WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Semantics for Indicating Accessible Version of Files

for

From: Cliff Tyllick
Date: Jan 28, 2009 4:45PM


Cliff asked:
How about "signed copy" (or "as submitted," if it's something your agency received) and "accessible version"?

Randy responded:
Good idea. We're already en route to establishing file naming conventions, wherein one can (hopefully) grok something from the names (e.g., one might have an extra "_text" appended to the stem of the name). But your idea sounds like a good one. Perhaps add a "notes" column to the right that includes this. In fact that could provide an avenue to point to the other
file also.

Now Cliff adds:
If you follow that route, might I suggest that you put the accessible file *first* and refer to the official, signed copy in the note? That way everyone who needs the accessible version (presumably including people using PDAs) can get to the information as quickly as possible. The "Date" column could still show the date associated with the original document. Its heading could be something like "Date Signed," for example.


>>> "Randy Pearson" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 1/28/2009 4:12 PM >>>
>> If it's a page that lists many such files, how about a properly
>> marked up table, with the two versions in separate columns?

We started down that path, but then didn't like it. Hence pausing for this
post. ;) What we did not like was the table might already have 4 columns to
include date, size, type, name. If you added the accessible version to the
same row, then really you need 4 similar columns, as date, size, type apply
separately to those files also. That approach felt both structurally and
visually wrong.

>> How about "signed copy" (or "as submitted," if it's something
>> your agency received) and "accessible version"?

Good idea. We're already en route to establishing file naming conventions,
wherein one can (hopefully) grok something from the names (e.g., one might
have an extra "_text" appended to the stem of the name). But your idea
sounds like a good one. Perhaps add a "notes" column to the right that
includes this. In fact that could provide an avenue to point to the other
file also.

-- Randy

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Cliff Tyllick
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:47 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Semantics for Indicating Accessible Version of Files

I commiserate, because I see the same thing coming down the road for my
agency.

How about "signed copy" (or "as submitted," if it's something your agency
received) and "accessible version"?

If it's a page that lists many such files, how about a properly marked up
table, with the two versions in separate columns?

You know what would be a really great answer? To be able to marry the image
layer of one PDF with the text layer of another. That way the accessible
text layer could be added to the signed image layer, and we could post just
one file. But I'm not a programmer, so I have no idea what it would entail
to make that possible.